October 2002, issue 13

Annual General Meeting 2002

Ealing Refugee Forum held its 2002 Annual General Meeting on 25^th August at the Princes Hall in Ealing Town Hall. Thirty people attended of whom twenty one represented refugee community organisations. The meeting was addressed by Ms. Jackie Hall of the Childrens Fund Partnership, Mr. Stephen James of RENEWAL, Mr. Andy Roper of what is now called Ealing Community and Voluntary Service and Cllr. Harvey Rose who is leader of the Liberal Democrat group on Ealing Council.

One of the topics covered was the draft service plan and consultation document developed by the Childrens Fund Partnership to help decide how to spend the £1 million grant Ealing has received to provide crisis prevention services for the 13-19 age group. Refugees have an important part to play in framing this spending programme and are encouraged to contribute by returning questionnaires. The meeting also heard that RENEWAL is about to host a health project workshop on 29^th October in Ealing Town Hall. This will discuss RENEWAL’s Mapping and Baseline Study as it relates to refugee health services and build partnerships between refugee community and statutory organisations to develop large scale project bids on this theme. This represents a major opportunity for refugee community organisations to provide significantly improved health-related services for their clients on an ongoing basis and all are encouraged to attend.

The meeting also heard about the work of Ealing Community Network which is the representative body for all voluntary organisations in the borough. Ealing Refugee Forum is represented on the Steering Group of this body as of right and membership application forms were distributed to all those attending. The meeting was also updated on the latest developments in the Ealing Voluntary Sector Resource Centre for which planning permission has recently been refused. The Resource Centre steering group is submitting a revised application to the planning committee in December which takes into account the small concerns expressed and is hopeful that this final attempt will prove successful. Cllr. Rose in wishing the Forum well commented that the initial rejection of the Resource Centre application was not too serious as the concept itself is regarded favourably. A letter of support for the Voluntary Sector Resource Centre was also distributed to those attending.

After the presentations and questions the meeting received the Ealing Refugee Forum Annual Report for 2001/02 which is enclosed with this Newsletter. This details the various activities of the Forum over the past year and outlines the significant development the Forum has undergone since being able to employ a full time staff member to do work previously undertaken by volunteers with other professional responsibilities. Our thanks go once again to RENEWAL whose grant has made this possible and to our other funders whose support enables the Forum to undertake its various activities.

The Forum would like to thank all who attended the public part of the meeting and for the continuing support shown to refugee communities by all our partners in other sectors in this borough.

Management Committee 2002/03

At the private session of the Annual General Meeting a new  Management Committee was elected for the coming year. This was the first election undertaken under the Memorandum and Articles adopted when the Forum incorporated as a company on 2^nd May. The meeting elected

to serve on the Management Committee for the coming year. Future co-options were left to the discretion of the new Management Committee which will elect officers at its first meeting on 23^rd October. The Forum extends its best wishes for the new Management Committee in the coming year.

Other Refugee Forums

On 3^rd October Hammersmith and Fulham Refugee Forum held a successful Policy Day for Management Committee members at Palingswick House. This consisted of a number of discussions and workshops which sought to review past achievements and confirm the purpose and values of the Forum. The Policy Day agreed four priorities for the coming year which are

Supporting local refugee community organisations

Defending the rights of refugees

Developing partnership work

Improving communication and information flow between different agencies for the benefit of refugees

and provided a way forward both strategically and administratively. For further information on the work of Hammersmith and Fulham Refugee Forum contact its Co-ordinator Mr. Ayar Ata on 8742-6166.

The West London Refugee Standing Committee Awayday on Friday 16^th and Saturday 17^th August was attended by representatives of each of the six borough fora and produced a number of outcomes essential for its future development. Chief among these is that the organisation has now changed its name to West London Refugee Partnership and will be known by the acronym WESTREP. The Awayday confirmed that WESTREP is independent of the RENEWAL partnership and that amongst a raft of objectives it will seek funding to employ staff and actively represent refugee community organisations and fora at West London regional level. For further information on WESTREP contact the Chair of Hammersmith and Fulham Refugee Forum Mr. Mulat Tadesse Haregot on 8748-0155.

Recent Forum Activities

Ealing Refugee Forum continues to be very active in representing refugee community organisations. Here are a few of our recent representative activities.

Ealing Refugee Forum is involved in the Ealing Capacity Building Network where it presses for a mapping of capacity building services which it can direct its members to. The aim of this group is to help groups gain funding by directing them to the support necessary to achieve this and the Forum has asked that the reasons why groups are not accessing existing support are identified and addressed.

The recent round of Neighbourhood Renewal Fund spending allocations laid aside £60,000 for a black and minority ethnic and refugee fund to help such groups access Neighbourhood Renewal funding. Ealing Refugee Forum is liaising with the Connecting Communities Project and Ealing Community and Voluntary Service to draw up guidelines for the use of this fund and will be involved in managing the fund when a steering group is established.

Ealing Refugee Forum attended the launch of the mobile library service on 24^th September. The council has concluded a service agreement with the government which obliges it to improve its service to refugees and ethnic minorities and the Forum is now consulting with the library service on refugee needs and the best way to fulfil them.

Ironically the Government Office for London has granted money to Ealing council to work in partnership with other agencies to combat the ill effects of recent comments about Somalis on BBC radio by the Member of Parliament for Ealing Southall. Ealing Refugee Forum attended a meeting on 3^rd October concerning this which was designed to assist in developing project ideas and priorities for intervention. The Forum has pressed for the negative public perception of refugees to be recognised as a root cause of community problems and for initiatives to be linked to combating this perception.

For further information on any of the above contact Mr. Rumwold Leigh on 8992-4612.

Forthcoming Events

The seventh Refugee Artists' Exchange Day will take place on Saturday 19^th October 2002 at Watermans Arts Centre in Brentford beginning at 12.30 p.m. This event will include exhibits and performances by refugee community organisations and artists and arts groups working with refugee communities. This gives refugees an opportunity to gain public recognition and career enhancement in one of the few professions they can access on equal terms. For further details contact Ms. Irena Taskovski on 07957- 105672.

The London Borough of Ealing is hosting a half day Homelessness and Health Workshop at Ealing Town Hall on Friday 1st November to work out ways of addressing the health needs of homeless people including refugees and asylum seekers. The outcome of this conference will be fed into the Homelessness Strategy currently being prepared by the local authority and will inform health service provision following reorganisation. For more details contact  Ms. Jasvinder Kaur Perihar at Ealing Council on 8825-6427 or 8893-0211.

One of the biggest events of its kind taking place this year is the Refugee Housing Conference which will be held on Monday November 4^th at City Hall, The Queen's Walk, London SE1 2AA from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The conference aims to share experiences of housing refugees and asylum seekers in London, explore housing options and develop partnerships and ongoing interest groups to meet housing needs. This conference is a potentially important step towards finding soluntions for a continual and long established refugee need. For further details contact the organisers Ms. Sue Lukes on 7359-1455  and Ms. Yesim Guzelpinar on 7458-1174.

Training Opportunities

Hammersmith and West London College is currently offering an Advanced Certificate course in Managing Voluntary Organisations. This qualification is accredited by the London Open College Network. The course starts on 16^th November 2002 at the Acton site in Mill Hill Road and 18^th January 2003 at the Southall site in Beaconsfield Road and lasts for 20 weeks. For further details contact Ms. Martine Lignon at Hammersmith and West London College, Gliddon Road, Barons Court, London W14 9BL or 0800-980-2175.

New UK Citizen is holding a series of free Workshops on Citizenship. These are aimed at individuals who are legally settled in the UK as a means of expressing their aspirationsand developing strategies to fulfil them.The first workshop will take place in December at Ashburnham Community Centre in North Kensingtonon a date to be arranged and is happy to hold further workshops in any borough which requests them. For further details contact Ms. Magda Luczkowska on 8458-7354.

Job Opportunities

Brent Refugee Forum is seeking a full time Co-ordinator at a salary of £25,000 per annum inclusive of London weighting. The post involves managing the Forum, fundraising and financial management and partnership development and is offered for two years with an extension possible. Applicants must have at least two years experience of working with refugee communities. For an application pack send an A4 stamped address envelope to Brent Refugee Forum, Suite 18, Chancel House, Neasden Lane, London NW10 2TU to be returned before the closing date of 28^th October.

RENEWAL is also advertising the post of Project Liaison Officer at a salary of £23,000 per annum. The post involves working with refugee community organisations to develop their potential and enable them to participate fully in the RENEWAL programme. Applicants should have training experience and administration skills.. For an application pack contact the Human Resources Department, Primary Care Education Centre, West Ealing House, 2 St James Avenue, West Ealing, London W13 9DJ quoting reference number 1045 before the closing date of 30^th October.

Ealing Refugee Forum is funded by RENEWAL, the London Borough of Ealing and the Trust for London.

p&p by Ealing Refugee Forum, West Acton Community Centre, Churchill Gardens, London W3 0JN.
Tel/Fax: 020-8992-4612. e-mail: contact@ealingrefugeeforum.org.uk. website: www.ealingrefugeeforum.org.uk

The views expressed in this newsletter are not necessarily those of the Ealing Refugee Forum Management Committee or staff.